


Stars Walk Backwards

by crowlord



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aliens, F/F, M/M, Multi, Sci Fi AU, Science Fiction, Spaceships, everything goes terribly terribly wrong, tw guns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 08:07:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6110392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowlord/pseuds/crowlord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And to think, was it more than ten years ago that the skies were vast and empty? </p><p>Still reeling after an unanticipated alien invasion, humanity has done whatever they can to save their planet, or get out alive. And, while some piloting schools are showing promise, (the government-funded Karasuno program especially, between the arsenal of experimental technology at their fingertips, and the sheer willpower of those in control), the defense of a planet comes at a cost.</p><p>Meanwhile, Hinata Shouyou dreams of flying, as he has every night since he witnessed the ships soar over the ruins of his old home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars Walk Backwards

The atmosphere of the auditorium was oppressive, to say the least. Cold, smooth, impenetrable walls, and air that felt heavier than lead, and eyes like cold suns from the stony-faced boys that were beginning to filter into the room. It had been over two years, and still, Kiyoko found it hard to swallow. Maybe, she considered, it would be easier to speak if she didn't know the lives she would be condemning them to. The fact that her research was almost entirely unrelated did little to assuage the guilt that had built up in her chest. 

If she wasn't as selfish, she would've quit long ago. The practices of the International Defense of Humanity had gotten out of hand long ago, and, if it weren't for its phenomenal success, it would've been shut down, she was sure-- or, at least, it would've, had times been anything like they were when Kiyoko was young. She could hardly recall those times, when peace was commonplace, before the human race learned that the demons of hell resided not below their feet, but in the skies above.

She'd seen it all firsthand. It had taken a matter of minutes for her hometown to become a ruin, the resulting chaos costing thousands, upon thousands more lives. She was nearly disgusted at how little she cared. 

There was a gentle click of the door closing, and two more youths entered the chamber. The taller one, potentially the tallest one she had seen enlisted so far, Kiyoko noted, draped himself across one of the vacant chairs, betraying none of the insecurity that the other latecomer showed; the other boy's mousy hair was disheveled, and he fidgeted in his seat. 

That'd be all of them, and Kiyoko braced herself as she stepped to the podium. "Ah," she began, not entirely prepared to break the silence. All eyes snapped to her. "I... I'm not here to give speeches, or to soften the blow for those who failed, or those who succeeded. I have a list of names, which I am to read. Those who are not listed, you are dismissed. For those who are, I ask that you remain in the auditorium. Thank you."

Silence, still. Taking another breath to steady herself, Kiyoko held up the pristine, white envelope in trembling hands. The note itself was carefully inked on thick paper, four names, out of the dozens in the room. "If you were selected, if you could please signify your presence by raising your hand." If it hadn't been for her own heartbeat, she would've sworn that time had stopped altogether. "Now, without further ado," another brief glance at the paper, "Kageyama Tobio?"

A boy in the front row slowly raised a hand in the air, holding a venomous glare. He sat straight-backed, his expression revealing no emotion whatsoever. The audience shifted slightly, and Kiyoko took this momentary disruption to call the next name.

"Tsukishima Kei" was the tall, bespectacled blond, one of the last to be seated. The boy who came in with him offered a hushed congratulations, which seemed to have been begrudgingly accepted. 

"Hinata Shouyo" seemed to be the opposite. Kiyoko could hardly see him over the head of the boy in front of him, but excitement leaked through his every movement. His hair was a fiery red, and his eyes betrayed an equally fiery passion.

The last name, a "Yamaguchi Tadashi", belonged to the nervous boy who entered with the blond. For a second, he was beaming, then he was hiding his face, embarrassed that he lacked the apparent stoicism of those around him. 

She stopped. The audience shifted uneasily, the focus shifting from the boys back to her. “That’s--” she stopped, fixing her words, “That'll be all.”

There was the silence. She had expected silence, she could deal with silence. She couldn't deal with the cacophony that followed a moment later, when a boy in the front stood up, demanding explanations. He had wasted years of his life training to be selected for the program, he was the best pilot, he had the numbers to prove it. The silence was shattered once and for all. Suddenly, each and every candidate had to prove themselves, every boast, every threat. They rushed towards her. She bolted for the door.

Her hands found cold metal, the rail on the side of the stairs leading down, down to the exit. It felt more like a cliff than anything at this point, the tide of people spilling outside of the auditorium. They didn't look human anymore, monstrous, just like the--

“Hey, cut it out! Leave her out of it!” 

Kiyoko winced, feeling something, someone, grab her arm. They tugged her to the side, towards the side door, which had been locked every other time she tried it. She looked up. Doctor Takeda was running just as fast as she was, his glasses askew, his dark hair messier than ever. He had been her teacher, years ago, and when she joined the war effort, he ended up as the director of her research. He was as much her teacher now as ever, slamming open a set of double doors that she didn't even know existed. He tried to lock them, but his hands were shaking too hard to insert the key. Another set of hands took over.

“Are you alright, Kiyoko?”

“You're safe now, I don't think they can get in here.”

Tanaka and Nishinoya proudly turned, leaning against the doors for good measure. The key swung from Tanaka’s fingers. Kiyoko tried to thank them between breaths. Takeda-sensei seemed a lot worse off than her, though; he was leaning against the wall, gasping apologies. It was obvious that he hadn't run that fast in months.

“Thank you, thank you both. And you, sensei, thank you for guiding me... I'm sorry I was so lost there--”

“No sweat,” Takeda-sensei assured her, sweating profusely, “It was really Ukai’s idea-- Coach Ukai’s idea. He was the one to stop the crowd in the first place.”

Kiyoko smiled slightly, regaining her calm. “N-nonsense. It was all of you.” 

Tanaka and Nishinoya glanced at each other, grinning widely.

“Uh, speaking of a Coach Ukai, by the way, where is the rest the squadron?”

Tanaka nodded his head back the way she had come. “Daichi took some of the older guys to the auditorium to make sure that the new recruits could make it out safely. Kinoshita ‘n Narita are trying to lock all the doors, and Ennoshita is checking through the security footage to make sure nobody gets through.”

“We decided to make sure that Kiyoko made it out okay,” Nishinoya added, “We didn't want a repeat of last year.”

Doctor Takeda winced, laughing slightly. “Definitely not.”

The room felt lighter for a few moments, and the silence that followed was welcome.

\---

Outside, Akira Kunimi sat with his back to the wall. He had just avoided the mob that had followed the intern, and decided that, even if just this once, self-pity was definitely better than misplaced anger. He had spent so long training, every waking second dreaming of being able to enter the program that seemed just out of reach. He had hope, he lived on that hope, and then a minute and four names later it was gone.

“That bastard.”

The voice undoubtedly belonged to Kindachi, someone who he had trained with for as long as he could remember. He was slumped against the wall as well, eyes closed, teeth grit. Kunimi sighed.

“I know, right?”

Their old friend (if they could even call him that anymore,) had pushed them away to focus solely on his work, and dammit, it hurt more than Kunimi was willing to admit.

That bastard, Kageyama Tobio, was a member of the Karasuno squadron.

\---

And now the room was in tatters, the boys standing in a haphazard row, nervous, far more than before. Coach Ukai could see it in their eyes, in the twitches of thumbs and the biting of tongues. Asahi had locked the doors, and Sugawara had turned the lights back on, making sure that everyone had really left. 

“Well,” he began, uncertain as to how the boys would react, “that wasn’t as bad as last year, at least.”

The quiet was less oppressive, but still unnerving.

He continued, “As you can see, the four of you have been selected out of a wide pool of candidates. You are the best of the best. And, unlike anyone else in that room, you are now members of the Karasuno Program, and, in time, you will be piloting the most advanced ships we can make. You are the head of the storm. You are the best that mankind has to offer, and for that, you should be proud.”

“Now, I know you probably have quite a few questions, but let me address some things beforehand. The intern who spoke to you all, Kiyoko Shimizu, is only very loosely related to this program at all. She was selected to ensure secrecy. Even the fact that I am giving this speech is classified information. I'm serious. I’m supposed to be your coach, for God’s sake, and even I don't even know what the hell I’m supposed to be doing for most of the time. For this reason, you have to take this all seriously, and trust whatever information that we can give you.”

“But, now is not the time for all that. We’ve alerted your families of your induction, and you will be able to contact them tomorrow, when we deactivate the communications scrambling beacons. Until then, I would say to take it easy. You must be exhausted, and tomorrow will be just as demanding as today.”

The red-haired boy (Hinata?) nodded, the others followed suit, less enthusiastically. 

“Unfortunately, I can't be there to guide you myself, there's some sort of meeting. Sawamura will show you around.” Sawamura waved from his position in the doorway. “And it looks like I'm already running late. I'll have to see you guys tomorrow, for proper introductions.” Ukai added, checking his watch.

With that, he nodded a curt farewell, and headed to the doors. He didn't look back at them. What was done was done.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hopefully the second chapter will be up soon, it took months to write this one. Anyways, I'm sorry if the pacing feels a little slow, I haven't really posted any fanfiction since like. 2013. But, I really love sci-fi, and theres a lot of time that's been put into this AU, and yeah, I guess I should wrap up the nervous rambling. 
> 
> I'd like to give thanks to Hache for beta reading (whoops that definitely wasnt several months ago), Sho for putting up with my endless ranting about this AU, among other things, and Hannah and Em (and Sho too) for convincing me to read Haikyuu in the first place. There's a few other people who also told me to read Haikyuu who I havent listed here, and if you think that's you, then it definitely is, and I genuinely apologize for putting it off for so long lmao. It's been worth it!


End file.
